Florida Sen. Marco Rubio posted a tweet early Tuesday and blamed Iran for orchestrating the storming of the U.S. Embassy in Iraq.
An AP reporter at the scene saw flames rising from inside the compound and at least three U.S. soldiers on the roof of the embassy.
Hundreds of Iraqis earlier attempted to storm the compound after holding funerals for the 25 fighters from an Iran-backed Shiite militia killed in U.S. airstrikes earlier this week, the Associated Press reported.
Two Iraqi foreign ministry officials told Reuters the U.S. ambassador and staff were evacuated. A man on a loudspeaker urged the mob not to enter the compound, saying: “The message was delivered.”
The gate that was smashed was a side-entrance. Protesters had pushed about 16 feet into a corridor that leads to the main building but the protesters were still about 200 yards away from it.
